current events

"The peaceful Olympic cooperation between the two previously hostile countries brings hope in the fact that the Olympics are truly a place to make amends, despite differences, through sport and passion" --Jade Chevalier

On January 3rd, North and South Korean government officials met at the Peace House in the village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, which rests on both nations’ shared border. National Public Radio states this marked their first official meeting in two years. According to The New York Times, on this Tuesday, they discussed--among many things, the participation of North Korea’s athletes in the 2018 Winter Olympic games, set to take place in PyeongChang this February. North Korea quickly accepted this offer and has since sent 16 athletes to the games.

On the opening night of the games, spectators witnessed South Korean and North Korean athletes marching together, showing the first sign of unity between the two nations since their separation after World War II, ending Japan’s rule over Korea in 1945. After this split , North and South Korea’s relationship has been fluctuating in throughout the years, fighting for border territories.​However in recent years, despite political unrest, their sports teams have been able to engage in civil composition. In 2017, North Korea sent its national hockey team to South Korea for competition, and South Korea sent its soccer team to North Korea.

The peaceful Olympic cooperation between the two previously hostile countries brings hope in the fact that the Olympics are truly a place to make amends, despite differences, through sport and passion. However it also breeds uncertainty and fear for many of those participating in the games, as well as the countries who sent their athletes to the Olympics—which are being held a mere 50 feet away from North Korea’s military base.

Taking this into account, South Korea has made precautions for their visitors in order to make them feel more secure. As a result, this will be the most heavily guarded Olympic games to date. According to The New York Times the south has hired thousands of security personnel, including approximately 50,000 military guards. This is more than half the military personnel hired for the 2016 summer Olympics that took place in Brazil.

However, The New York Times explains that some debate that these precautions may not be entirely necessary due to the fact that North Korea is participating in the games this year.This should make the Olympic games less of a target for military tomfoolery. “These worries are understandable,” Choi Moon-soon, South Korean governor of the Olympics told reporters last year. However, when speaking on North Korea, he added, “If they participate in the event, that threat disappears.”

North Korea seemed so excited to join the Olympic games before the event, and wanted to send an art troop to the pre Olympics. However everyone was baffled when North Korea didn’t show up to the event. According to The New York Times, this caused some tension as to whether they weren’t invited, or simply boycotted the event, and resulted in North Korea blaming South Korean media for the mistake.In any case, North Korea is still attending and did participate in the scheduled march on the 8th.

There were no hiccups in the Olympics concerning North Korea and it is speculated that the games have actually helped North and South Korea to find a truse. Weather this trust will surpass the games, time can only tell. However as the Olympics end, North Korea ends the games with zero metals. This has raised a buzz in how north Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong un, will react to the loss. According to the National Post, the North Korean athletes pay actually face charges and experience heavy labor in concentration camps for failing to win their country a metal.